


A Little TLC

by Nehszriah



Category: The Thick of It (TV)
Genre: I tried but idk how to write this ship; input appreciated, M/M, Prompt Fic, lots of implied things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 18:17:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6818947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nehszriah/pseuds/Nehszriah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a tumblr prompt: Malcolm is found exhausted and asleep at his desk by Julius, who takes him home giving TLC.</p>
<p>Not the exact prompt, but it's pretty close. T only for Malcolm's language, which warrants more than a T even on the best of days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little TLC

“Evening, Samantha! Is Malcolm in?”

I glanced up from my computer and saw it was Lord Armitage. Julius Nicholson has never been amongst one of my favorite people to interact with, but he’s not the worst by any means. He had a smile on his face that was liable to mean so many different things (part of why I’m not a big fan), though at least I knew it had nothing to do with me.

“He’s in his office, cooling down from the shitstorm,” I replied.

“Well, he _did_ just prevent a wide-scale election, saving the nation millions,” he said. Julius knocked on the door connecting our offices and waited for the inevitable flood of cusswords. When it didn’t so much as trickle, he opened the door and tutted loudly.

“What’s the matter this time?” I asked.

“It seems like our Malcolm has bitten off more than he can chew.” I followed Julius into the room and saw Malcolm passed out on the sofa. The top buttons of his shirt were undone and his tie loosened; he looked like hell, sleeping with his mouth open and a beaky scowl on his face. I crouched down next to him and shook his shoulder gently.

“Hey, Malc, Lord Armitage is here to see you,” I whispered. He didn’t move, and I shook him some more. “ _Malcolm_ …”

“It appears he’s incapacitated. How long has it been since he went home?”

“He promised me he went home two days ago, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Typical Malcolm,” Julius sighed. “Well, let’s gather his things and take him home—he does Queen and Country no good by pulling these stunts.” Couldn’t argue there, so we packed up Malcolm’s laptop, as well as mine, and all the necessary mobiles and papers and whatnot before we sat the workaholic up and Julius positioned himself under his arm to carry him out. It was just a good thing it was so late at night or we’d hear about it afterwards. Julius’s car was the one waiting for us, which was only the first surprise.

The second surprise was when I went to tell the driver the address, Lord Armitage interrupted by simply saying “Malcolm’s house”. Okay, it wasn’t so much as a surprise as it was a curiosity. I had always known that the two were capable of seeing one another on neutral ground outside of Number 10, ever since the two had been introduced, but I never thought it went as far as Nicholson’s driver knowing _how to get to Malcolm’s_. My very shouty boss had always made it known that no one was to know details about his personal life under pain of torture-inflicted death. I had long been flagged as one of the lucky few, though that Julius was one? That was news to me.

We got to Malcolm’s and Julius sent the driver home. I opened the front door and allowed Julius access. Between the two of us we were able to get Malcolm up the stairs and to his bedroom. The house, absolutely sprawling in comparison to my flat, has always made me a bit jealous when I visited, though I guess Malcolm had earned a bedroom as big as my sitting room with as much as he’s put in.

“I hate to ask this of you, but could you please make us a cuppa?” Julius asked kindly as he placed the living-dead on the bed. “I get the feeling he’s going to wake up soon and some nice, sweet chamomile will be the ticket.”

“It’s in the job description; don’t worry,” I chuckled before walking out of the room. I’ll be honest: I don’t mind making tea. Gran ran a tea trolley and it helped her raise three kids—there’s nothing wrong in fetching a cuppa every now and then, especially for those who matter. It’s kind of how I got my job to begin with… I know the little guy matters sometimes moreso than the ones higher up.

About twenty minutes later I carried the tea tray up to my third surprise of the night. Malcolm was propped up in bed, his hair wet and pajamas on, with Julius half-sitting on the mattress next to him. By now I had pieced everything together, and merely offered Julius his tea with a smile.

“Malcolm is right: you are an angel,” he grinned. I put the tray on the nightstand and pulled up a chair, taking my own mug of tea. “You don’t have to stay here if there’s somewhere else you have to be—I can survive a freshly-woken Malcolm.”

“That’s very kind of you, but that doesn’t give me the satisfaction of scolding him when he does wake up,” I laughed. He chuckled back, though the way he glanced over at Malcolm confirmed my suspicions. A couple minutes later and Malcolm began to stir, the greying cuss mumbling obscenities as he did so.

“Fucking hell… what’s going on…?” He opened his eyes and saw the two of us sitting there, a look of panic quickly spreading across his face. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“You passed out in your office, you berk,” I explained sternly. “ _Malcolm_ , you _told_ me that you were taking better care of yourself. I’ll have you know this is the exact opposite.”

“Come on Sammy… you know what was going on at work…” he argued.

“…and I have to agree with Ms. Cassidy that you were being incredibly reckless—what would have happened if someone _other_ than us found you, hmm?”

“Stop making it sound like I was fucking ODing like some burned-out starlet,” Malcolm growled. He shifted in bed and scowled in realization. “Fuck Jules; you put me in boxer-briefs? Perv.”

“They were at the top of the drawer and they were clean—don’t argue it.” Julius then took the third mug of tea and began to help Malcolm drink it, something he wasn’t having any of.

“I think I’ll take my leave then,” I announced. I stood and placed my mug on the tray, trying not to laugh as I saw the look of panic spread across my boss’s face. “I fully expect you to work from home tomorrow if you work at all. Think you can make sure that happens?”

“Of course,” Julius replied. By the time I walked out, Malcolm was grousing indignantly while the other man attempted to negotiate his way into laying down with claims of “nothing intense going on”. I went down the stairs and checked the appointment calendar tacked to the kitchen wall, making note of Julius’s birthday in my mobile, and locked the front door behind me.


End file.
